Max Slade, Microsoft
Today’s methods of organizing and searching data cannot keep pace with the exponential rate of information growth. This information overload presents an opportunity to expose new value in the aggregate, where the data interactions provide greater ability to act on previously unexplored insights.
Pivot will change the way people perceive and explore the information that surrounds them by visualizing information in new ways, exposing hidden relationships and making it easier to act on these newly discovered insights. Pivot makes it easier to interact with massive amounts of data in ways that are powerful, informative and fun. Please view the following 2010 TED talk which allows you to see Pivot running and a description from Gary Flake, the founder of Live Labs: www.ted.com/talks/gary_flake_is_pivot_a_turning_point_for_web_exploration.
To learn more about Pivot and download the released rich client, visit www.getpivot.com
Pivot is a tool you can use in your business immediately.
- Pivot shipped as a Customer Technology Preview in November of 2009 at the PDC (Professional Developers Conference). The rich client application (WPF) was our unveiling to the world of our faceted search experience. We have announced a Silverlight control that will be available in the summer of 2010. This has spurred a quite a bit of interest internal and external to Microsoft.
- No extra work is required to change your business data.
- Pivot uses a common format, XML, to describe collections of data and Deep Zoom image format to allow for smooth zooming/panning of the information. The format extension is CXML. In order to view your data in Pivot today, you can select a subset of information and use our Excel spreadsheet plug-in which creates the CXML and Deep Zoom image format from your data and imagery. Translating to this format is simple, which makes the Pivot experience easy to obtain.
- Search: Pivot allows for an indexed Search across whatever content you are viewing.
- Faceted browsing: Using the data as the user interface, Pivot allows you to easily swim throughout your information. One of the most powerful aspects of Pivot is the exposure of common properties (or facets) within a set of data, which then allow you to slice and dice the information leading to insights and answer tough business questions.
- Pivot can improve test decision making through:
- Visualizing trends: Pivot allows the tester or manager to gain insight into the data that you collect. Testers collect and interpret a lot of data!
- [Unexpected] events: Pivot will highlight events that don’t match the expected distribution curve. In this way it’s especially useful to help identify and then act on information that may be otherwise hidden
- Increasing the probability of divining insight from data:
- Insights into data provide one of the most valuable resources to testers – pointing us where to focus our time and energy.
- Interactive visualization can be a team sport which:
- Raises the bar for individual testers, test managers, and product owners. Testers can use Pivot to analyze test data. Managers can use Pivot to analyze the release. Product owners can use collections created by Test to truly understand the information that the test team is using to gauge quality.
- Product Studio collection. We can view our entire bug database used to develop the Pivot CTP within Pivot!
- Code Coverage. Using a code complexity calculation and Magellan code coverage data, we can view Seadragon code coverage statistics and learn where to add more coverage!
- Test run results. We have a collection created from multiple test runs which allow you to see at a glance what areas are passing/failing and what common properties the failures have in order to investigate the root cause!
- Contribute your Pivot innovations to http://getsatisfaction.com/live_labs_pivot
2010 Technical Paper, Max Slade, Abstract, Paper, Slides
